thumb|right|200px|A US WWII recruiting poster for the merchant marineMerchant Navy (or
Merchant Marine) refers to the
merchant fleet of a country, which
varies in capacity.
Seafarers on merchant vessels, who
hold various military-like ranks and responsibilities and are sometimes members of various
maritime trade unions, are required by the
International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers to carry
Merchant Mariner's Documents. The following is a partial list of the merchant navies or merchant marines of various countries. Additional details on
transport in present-day nations and states are available.
British Merchant Navy
The British Red Ensign.
The British Merchant Navy comprises the British merchant ships that transport cargo and people during time of peace and war.
For long periods of the last millennium, the Merchant Navy had the largest merchant fleet in the world, but it has slipped down the rankings. Today, there are 429 ships of 1,000
Gross Register Tonnage (GRT) or over, making a total of 9,181,284 GRT (). These are split into the following types: bulk carrier 18, cargo 55, chemical tanker 48, container 134, liquefied gas 11, passenger 12, passenger/cargo 64, petroleum tanker 40, refrigerated cargo 19, roll on/roll off 25, vehicle carrier 3. There are also 446 ships registered in other countries, and 202 foreign-owned ships registered in the UK.
(2005 CIA estimate)Canadian Merchant Navy
Canada, like several other Commonwealth nations created its own Merchant Navy in a large-scale effort in World War Two. The Canadian Merchant Navy played a major role in the
Battle of the Atlantic bolstering the Allies' merchant fleet due to high losses in the British Merchant Navy. Eventually thousands of Canadians served in the Merchant Navy aboard hundreds of Canadian merchant ships, notably the "
Park Ships", the Canadian equivalent of the American "
Liberty Ship". A school at St. Margarets Bay, Nova Scotia trained Canadian merchant mariners. "Manning Pools", Merchant Navy barracks were built in Canadian ports.
Greek Merchant Navy
According to the
BTS and the World Factbook, the Greek maritime fleet is today the largest in the world, with 3,099 vessels of 1000 Tonnes or more (December 13, 2007) accounting for 18% of the world's fleet capacity. About half of the vessels fly the
Greek flag and the remainder mainly
flags of convenience. Greek vessels consist about half of total
EU tonnage and created 7.6% of
Greece's
GDP in 2007 (about 17 billion euros). Thus Greece is the largest shipping-nation in the world with a total of .[30] In terms of ship categories, Greece ranks first in both tankers and dry bulk carriers, fourth in the number of containers, and fourth in other ships. In the 1970s Greece was even bigger with circa 5000 ships.
Polish Merchant Navy
Swiss Merchant Marine
Switzerland has a civilian high seas fleet of
merchant vessels, whose home port is
Basel, in
Switzerland. The first ships were purchased and operated by the
government in order to ensure the supply of critical resources during
World War II. After the war, a privately owned merchant fleet emerged, spurred in part by government subsidies that paid for the fleet's operation up until 1953. As of 2006, 26 ships (mostly
container carriers) totalling 479,624
tons, operated by five shipping companies, fly the
Swiss flag.
United States Merchant Marine
Seal of the US Merchant Marine
The United States Merchant Marine is made up of the nation's civilian-owned merchant ships and the men and women that crew them. The merchant marine transports cargo and passengers during peace time. In time of war, the merchant marine is an auxiliary to the
Navy, and can be called upon to deliver troops and supplies for the military.
The people of the merchant marine are called merchant mariners, and are civilian except in times of war, when, in accordance with the
Merchant Marine Act of 1936 they are considered military personnel. As of 2009, the United States merchant fleet numbered 422 ships and approximately 69,000 people. Seven hundred ships owned by American interests but registered, or flagged, in other countries are not included in this number.
See also
